I feel that if we decide to purchase a home in an area prone to flooding, we should be willing to pay the piper.

Problem is, risk of flooding changes with other development in the area paving over permeable surfaces. This is credited with being a significant contributing cause in the increased flooding in the Hershey PA area in the past several years. You can't control development on land you do not own.

It's real easy to blame those that get flooded out, to assume the homeowner knew the risks. It's not always that black and white.